Elements of a modern homestead: worm composter (under fig tree) solar panels (on garage roof) outdoor shower (left) , clothes line (above), sun oven (front left), xtracycle (middle), biodiesel processor (right) reclaimed urbanite, and self watering pots

21st century homesteading is a interesting combination - a mix of old and new in a eclectic, hybridized life.

Doesn’t this scene from The Good Life just about say it all? {note, watch it and ad lib if you like!)  CLASSIC!

Like Tom so perfectly portrayed, it comes down to choices.  They were "pioneers" too in a sense and they also did not know if it would work out.  Both he and his wife had to make a leap of faith  and then stand against the  criticisms of society.  Today, we know it can be done successfully  but it is still requires hard work and dedication and sacrifice like with most of life's decisions. We, through  choice, have chosen a TV (for movies) but no microwave, a washing machine but no dryer. However,  in the back of our minds, we wonder if we have the courage to go cold turkey.  What if we pull the safety net, could we make it?  Since our family's coat of arms bears a goat, I am sure we'd give it our all.

But I often think about what would happen if I had to hand wash all the clothes.  That would take me ALL day.  Of course, then I appreciate what technology we do have and the helping hands of family. But I am curious : how did true homesteaders live without the choices we have today?  It was hard work, day after day after day. In the lifestyle promoted today by society,  it is  a way of life that goes hand in hand with high hopes and great expectations.

But self-sufficiency in the city, although challenging and demanding,  brings security,  along with a whole new world of surprises.  It is,  as we have proven over the years, a viable alternative lifestyle choice.

What choices have you made?

Pssst!  Like to stock up with some modern homesteading helpers that are seen in the photo?   Check out our online store

After two years of being screened at many film festivals and community viewings throughout the world, we have published (in its entirety) our award winning short film Homegrown Revolution for free viewing on YouTube.

It has been a crazy ride and exciting to have an award winning film and we sincerely thank those of you who supported this film in many ways.  A big THANK YOU goes out from our hearts to those  who supported us, purchased this video, screened it, shared it or simply let the film's message lead you to a new way of looking at your yard. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! We really appreciate it.

Our unlikely little film was a surprise success story.  For those of you who don't know the history, I'll recap briefly.  For those of you already know it, go ahead and skip to the end of this post to watch Homegrown Revolution.

Homegrown Revolution was made in a whirlwind three days after a last-minute invite for Dad to speak at Peter Sellars' UCLA class in 2007.  Jules Dervaes was to be the lead-in and local authority on sustainable food to Michael Pollan's presentation.

By now, we had given so many presentations, the explaining of our project and "Urban Homesteading" was becoming a tad redundant - there are only so many clever ways we could explain what we have been doing the last 16+ years.  Plus, the fact that this was a night class had many of us expecting a room of yawning and under-caffeinated students blinking sleepily at their laptop screens and surfing Facebook, content to get class credit simply for being a body in the seat.  Short of handing Red Bull out to everyone, we seriously thought NO ONE would wake up for this Urban Homesteading and sustainable food presentation.

Looking back at the time, I realize how far the movement has come to the point it is today.   It wasn't long ago at all, but in 2007  the movement was just blooming and I was finding out that most students didn't care or know about Urban Homesteading -- or even anything environmental or sustainable.   There's always the usual small but core group of students who were into changing the world and activism but we knew we had to reach to the others in the class that might not even have a first thought about the food they ate or about gardening.

At the family meeting / lunch following the invite, Dad turned to me (since I have unofficially become the tech geek / "electronic gadget whisperer" of the family ) and inquired about a video slideshow we had put together for a virtual tour of the Urban Homestead called "One Step at a Time."  This video brochure had been published on our website at the time  since it was first uploaded in 2004 (soon to be uploaded to YouTube for kicks).

As I am not a video editor and had no training at all, my foray into  messing about with video clips had been a sink or swim experience.   After mucking about in Adobe Premier, I had managed to put together some footage that resulted in One Step at a Time and that short film seemed pretty cool when it was made; but I was now slightly embarrassed about it and wanted to give Dad something newer and peppier for the students.

Anais and I got to work in those three days before the presentation.   We had multiple tapes of footage of the garden, animals and various projects throughout the yard but very little of ourselves.  So, I spliced those with some of the news media interviews for a  narrative effect.

I really wanted to do little interviews on our  own footage; but given the short amount of time and our aversion to being filmed by one another, it just wasn't happening. (NOTE: Seriously, I did try.  I approached Justin with a camera as he did his biodiesel brewing and asked him in  my best TV reporter voice to explain what was doing.   I received an  "are you kidding me?" stare for my troubles.  Turns out, it's hard for  us to be enthusiastic about giving each other interviews.  Try explaining to someone who already knows what you are doing, what you are doing.  It isn't easy. )

For fun and to appeal to the college kids who were my own age, Anais and I added in some well known musical favorites to create a edgy  mash-up type music video.

Turns out, as R.E.M's moody guitar in "Drive" snapped up the students' attention at  the first minute to the final frame of the fist-in-the-sky rallying  image and the drumming strains of "Revolution Cry", we had gained this class' full focus and subsequent and  enthusiastic ovation and shouts.   Yes, even the too-cool-for-school jocks of UCLA's NCAA basketball team were into it.

Later that week, we decided to publish Homegrown Revolution on YouTube (cut to 10 minutes since YouTube wouldn't allow videos of  longer lengths at that time) and it kind of went viral for a time and gained over 500,000 views.

We started to use Homegrown Revolution for an intro to Jules Dervaes' workshops and presentations and considered it a type of "video brochure" or "infomercial" to Urban  Homesteading.  Fast forward to late 2008 and we received a phone call from the awesome  folks at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival asking if we wanted to  submit our film for consideration.

I seriously had no idea what they were talking about!   Film?  What film? We don't have a film, I thought.

They soon convinced us that they were really asking for Homegrown Revolution which one of their members had seen on YouTube.  This touched off a flurry of more video editing.  Since the original version contained a lot that was not our footage, we began to re-shoot a lot of scenes and I soon had Homegrown Revolution up to over 25 minutes long.  But because Wild & Scenic had accepted Homegrown  Revolution into their program as it appeared on YouTube, we knew we  had to keep it to 10 minutes.

In the end, the final product came out  at 15 minutes after we all refused to cut out anything more.  There was also concern from some of Film Festival folks about remaking  Homegrown Revolution so much that it would no longer feel like the  original version so we felt a little restricted in our creativity.     I did try to obtain the rights to some of the footage / interviews that appeared in the original version but with so little time to  remake the film, it turned out easier to just re-speak most of it  instead of dealing with all the paperwork.    Again, all this had to  be done in a short amount of time - definitely not enough time to be at one's full creativity.

Unfortunately, although most of our words as they appear in the 2009  version of Homegrown Revolution had been spoken to interviewers  previously, it was hard getting family members to say the same lines  with enthusiasm and with the same passion as they had when speaking to  someone "new" and curious to what we were doing.  Looking at the film today,  I can see all the mistakes and where it could all have been better.

But this was a collaborative project done by all of us -- with each family member taking part in the filming, editing and structure of the film.  Neither of us had any previous film editing / filming experience but we hope the passion and enthusiasm show through any technical flaws and other problems.

It's also important to note that the film was made entirely in-house on computers powered by solar/green sources.  All transportation was done in a biodiesel-fueled car and all camera/mic batteries were rechargeable and charged with solar energy.  Waste was kept to a minimum – paper composted or recycled and all publicizing materials printed  on post consumer paper.

We are humbled by the impressive impact Homegrown Revolution had in  the film festivals both nationally and internationally. It  was never created for a film festival circuit but has a true homegrown, homemade story behind its creation. Today,  whenever I am frustrated by learning something new or seeing where I fail in trying to get something perfect, I just need to look at where our little film that could has taken us.

I am compiling a  tally of the festivals and known public screenings to be published at HomegrownRevolution.com but here are the AWARDS and HONORS Homegrown Revolution has gained so far:

WINNER

Best Environment & Ecology Film North America,
Swansea International Film Festival, UNITED KINGDOM

Prize of the Mayor of the Capitol City of Slovakia
Ekotop Film Festival of Sustainable Development, SLOVAKIA

Best Short Documentary
Southern Appalachian International Film Festival, TENNESSEE

El Capitan Film Award
Yosemite International Film Festival, CALIFORNIA

Best Sustainability Film
Green Screen Environmental Film Festival, CALIFORNIA

Robert T. Nanninga Award for Excellence,
Cottonwood Creek Film Festival, CALIFORNIA

-----------------------------

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Westpac Award Best Short Film Runner Up
Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival, NEW ZEALAND

NOMINATED - Best Film, Climate Change & Sustainable Technology
CMS Vatavaran Environmental & Wildlife Film Fest, INDIA

FINALIST
European Spiritual Film Fest, FRANCE

Footage aired on Oprah's 2009 Earth Day show

You can still purchase the DVD here for community screenings or to just own a copy. We're still sending the film out to festivals who request it, so if you know of any film festivals or other opportunities, continue to send them our way. Thanks!

Pssst...!

Sharp eyed or observant readers might notice we now have a new YouTube address:  http://www.youtube.com/urbanhomestead

We'll still have the http://www.youtube.com/dervaes one but we might FINALLY be getting into sharing how-to videos.  We are launching this new channel for video clips showing snippets of life from the Urban Homestead as well as some how-to videos.

So be sure to subscribe to this new channel to get all the latest videos - thanks!

Looking back on our goals from last year Justin (Jethro) got his fish project underway,  the grey water project too.

Jordanne (Ellie Mae) revamped our two social networks, Freedom Gardens and launched Backyards & Barnyards and did get around to organizing a lot of mess.  Not to forget the launced her super amazing Natural Poultry Supplement Mix which is receiving rave reviews!

As for me (Granny),  the mountain of fabric and yarn still looms like a huge shadow but the craft-music room is coming along nicely.  Not sure if I am talking less and listening more – guess I’ll have to ask my family & friends that.

The 7K bonanza harvest wasn't the only highlight from 2010

We went back to Wild & Scenic located in the quaint mountain town of Nevada City and had a chance to meet our favorite author, John Robbins.  Had a workshop at the Eco Farm conference in lovely grounds Asilomar (didn't get to spend as much time on the beach as we'd like since it was soooo cold and rainy!).   Not to mention numerous articles and video pieces which all were featured here on the blog – our favorite being the recent So Cal Connect piece , I am Los Angeles , Private Chefs of Beverly Hills,  Sis and I were "Cover Girls" & with an article featured in this online magazine and I wrote about my home school experience for another

Our home made film "Homegrown Revolution" won  many awards including : Best Environment & Ecology Film North America - Swansea International Film Festival, U.K.; Prize of the Mayor of the Capitol City of Slovakia - Ekotop Film Festival of Sustainable Development, Slovakia; Best Short Documentary - Southern Appalachian International Film Festival, Tennessee; Honorable Mention: Westpac Award Best Short Film - Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival, New Zealand.  (You can purchase a DVD copy)

We traveled to back to the homestead in New Zealand where I was born (more pics and tales to come) and with our biggest turn out ever to a presentation on urban homesteading!

After the New Zealand trip: Other outreach opportunities included four university appearances by "Farmer D" and a presentation for a public school district's student gardens fundraiser.

On the urban  homestead

Keeping it real.  As with any journey, we had our ups and downs.

Passing of dear old Clementine (the poster chicken & darling of the UH movement) and our duck Amy after freak accident which never fully recovered from.

The cycle of life continued, Though there were sad deaths there was new life with four additions to our flock.  Our southern belles  - Annalee, Lulu Belle, Beulah and Opal.

Pushing the envelope in urban sustainability we added new projects:  hops for beer and 50 tilapia for aquaponics fish farming and wrote about the challenges that we face of growing food in the city.

Wrote about necessary Urban Homestead apparel and "Natural Beauty, "  "Homesteader Hygiene", & Living Without AC,  Washing Clothes by Hand & threw an amazing  "Girlie" Tea Party under $50!

Long time customer, Elements, who featured our many of our homegrown items on his menu unceremoniously dumped us (having money issues)   When one door closed, it opened up our produce to the public with the launch of the Front Porch Farm Stand featuring local foods and goods.

Weather continued to be a problem with a record heat wave in October & record rainfall in December

Though we had one of our best honey harvest in years, Varroa Mites (and early cold weather) wiped out all of our of beehives except one.

I dropped the ball on the Weekly Meal wrap ups (sorry readers) posts but I picked up guitar which I am enjoying relearning – well, except for the sore finger tips.   Ouch!

There you have it!  Some of the highlights of 2010,  I know I just touched the tip of the ice berg otherwise I’d be here all day.

So what our plans/goals for 2011?   That’s certainly a good question and a lot to digest ….  we do know are going to have sadly terminate some projects because of the lack of support.   It’s a bitter pill to swallow put sometimes you got to cut things that are weighing you down.  I’m talking to myself here… have to keep saying that!

Also like to thank all of you readers who have supported us via donations or purchases from our online store.    Not to mention all the wonderful letters, cards and emails.   THANK YOU!

While I try to shake off a awful case writers block, if you are new or a lurker to this blog, this is a good time to swap howdies or better yet TELL US what your FAVORITE post(s) of 2010 were!

So pull up a chair and give us a holler ya hear and hope 2011 is off to a good start for you!

"Jack of all trades, master of none, though ofttimes better than master of one."

Over the past years, we've had dozens of book offers, all of which we've turned down (I can hear the chorus of groans). Why? Well, for one, we felt that we must continue (at this stage) to forge ahead in our urban homesteading efforts. There's a time & purpose for everything and we didn't feel it was the right time. Everyone knows that when you decide to write a book it takes up pretty much ALL your time and you can't do anything else - gardens go into neglect, projects hang in suspension, stuff gets shunted aside as one expected to meet the publisher deadlines. Plus, we have too much stuff to learn - by doing!

Since urban homesteading is our life, we are ever so busy doing and have very little time to write about what we were doing except for here on the journal - which acts as a chronology or diary of an urban homesteader. A picture is worth a thousands words and many people have told us that our urban homestead blog is our urban homesteading book! The urban homestead is not words on paper but a living-working model in production that's full of success and many a failure.

Another thing that we have learned in this 25 year urban homesteading journey is that each year that you add a different skill or project, the challenge is to keep this "plate spinning" along with the others you've started. Believe me, we've dropped a few plates in our time but we don't give up!

Learning by doing is still the best way to learn how to farm and homestead. Such times that we have learned the most about farming/homesteading have been when we were thrown into a situation and forced to sink or swim.

Here at Little Homestead in the City we are striving to keep true to the eco pioneer spirit as one family tries to keep all the plates spinning - all at once.

I always cringe at the term "master (fill in the blank)." If you cease to learn, you cease to exist. Nature teaches you firsthand that one is never the master of her domain. Nature also teaches you humility and patience. Just when you think you have it "made" - she throws you a curve ball that can leave you swinging.

Another thing we've learned is that you are never REALLY "master" anything - always a student. Learning through the trials, tribulations and growing along with them.

So with, as one of our friends wrote and we are now borrowing, "Patience, Persistence & Humility" we enter another year here at the urban homestead.

Ready to be taught by our surroundings, ready to accept (hopefully with humility) what's in store for us and grateful and blessed to be able to share our journey with you.

Don't forget to tune in to KCET, So Cal Connected tonight, there's going be a segment on our urban homestead

Also, hope to see many of you on Sunday at the Free Urban Homesteading event in Palm Springs The whole family will be there to answer all your questions.

Home preserves for the front porch farm stand

Flowering pineapple sage

Carnations

Bee feeder filled with organic sugar and essential oils

Mr Handsome

Sissy

Purple grapes

Hanging out

March, one two three four. Pick up those legs!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Sorry for not posting in a few days, but hadn't really been in the mood for writing.  Our family has some very sad news to share.

I knew this time would come one day but it sure did come as a shock to all. The matriarch of our homestead and poster chicken for urban homesteading, Miss Clementine, quickly and peacefully passed away in Jordanne's arms on Friday afternoon at the ripe old age of eight.

Her chickenship was a very happy and healthy chicken to the end,  eating grubs, greens and hanging with her gal friends.

But last week, she wasn't her normal self.  We noticed she was  slower and not as bossy around the chickens as much.   On Friday afternoon I went into the animal compound and found her in the corner just sitting there.  I knew it wasn't a good sign and frantically called for Jordanne.   Jordanne brought her into the house, sat on the couch and and held her on her lap.,  stroking and talking to her until her heart slowed and, in a matter of a seconds, stopped.

The first of our city chicken flock,  she was certainly the world's most famous chicken.  Clementine was featured in countless articles, video pieces, books and even our 2011 "Little Homestead" calendar.

Our fluffy black cochin was not only a beautiful but also a very sweet chicken.  Everyone who met her immediately liked her.   She loved dust baths, grubs, sitting in laps and ruling the roost!

All of us had a good hard cry as she is one of the oldest living critters to have passed away here on the urban homestead. She was a very special chicken to a lot of folks and will be (is) missed.

I still look for her amongst the flock and pains me to see that she's gone.

Our "Darling Clementine" now lies in the garden, under an apple tree.

You are lost but not gone forever

Tell me, I'll forget.  Show me, I may remember.  But involve me and I'll understand. -- Chinese Proverb

As folks around the nation celebrate with friends and family,  how about we all take this opportunity to share with one another what baby steps (or giant ones) that we have taken to become more independent from mass consuming culture and the corporate controls of our food, energy, fuel, water and our lives.

As Americansm we value our freedoms; however, these days we find ourselves entrapped, tied to system that is set on keeping us dependent.

A helpful guidepost for a more sustainable lifestyle is found at 10 Elements of Urban Homesteading

We'll kick things off.   So far, the small changes made this year (I am sure, um, I know there's more but it's a start:

1. Reclaimed time, stepping back and gaining more hands on experiences

2. Reduced water with installation of graywater to garden

3. Creative re-purposing.  Bed sheets to aprons.

5. Buying wisely - goods for life.    Make conscious purchases.   Do we really need that, how long will it last or can I make that myself.

6. Homegrown economy,  less dependent on restaurant sales, which could turn out in the long run to be a fickle source of income.  Instead, focus on more the front porch farm stand.

Small steps have a large impact.

Care to share what steps you have taken or would like to take in 2010.

How are you bringing the revolution home?

Friends and fellowship

Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration.

-- Charles Dickens

Urban Homesteading not just about bringing food, goods, services closer to home but making the home center your life.   One of the steps backwards we have taken is bringing "socializing" home.  So much time these days is spent away from home.  As urban homesteaders on the sustainable path, we start reclaiming our back our food, energy, water and waste but what about our entertainment?

Folks from all walks of life, all ages are invited to take part in our 'Saturday Socials'    It's all about good food, good friends and good times (ah I can just here the Cheers theme song now) .

You never know who's going to drop by!

For our most recent Saturday Social, Jordanne and I whipped up some scrumptious 'slaw (homegrown red cabbage, carrots, turnip and fennel) swiss chard with strawberry salad dressing and a double batch of avocado chocolate cupcakes.  The buttery avocados were courtesy of Farmer Sergio - thanks!

So why not try it at your home .   One night a month, invite folks over young, middle age, seniors).   It just may become a tradition as we transition towards a more sustainable future building a homegrown community.

It's time we take back control of our lives and start our own traditions.  Care to share how you have broken free and started tradition in your household?

Virtual barn raising: All hands on deck!

Whew, we did it!   Took us longer than we expected but it was well worth the wait and as about as close as an Amish barn raising experience we city folks get!

There's still tweaks and some parts are not finished but we certainly see a light at the end of this tunnel!   There's still a bunch of content (Steps Taken, Cast of Characters,  About Us, etc, etc)  to come as we put everything in back order.  Of course there are some plug-ins yet still to be added like "Most Popular Post" and "Most Recent Comments", etc.  But on the bright side, the new blog is working - whoot

Merging all the categories into a more simplified format was like trying to fit a semi truck thru the front door.   Boy that was rough!  Still not sure if we merged everything properly.  I love the new way you can view the complete Urban Homestead Chronicles (located in the right side bar under "Complete Urban Homestead Archives" )  Mind you, there's a heck of a lot of posts (10 years worth)  so you may need to step away from the computer make yourself some tea and sandwich and then come back!   Oh and since we've been chronicling our journey online for the past decade (before there were even blogs) the older posts are still somewhat of a mess.

We have added a humorous warning:  "Some posts may cause drastic changes in your lawn, excessive seed buying, frenzied bouts of planting and the overwhelming desire for hand-cranked goods. We are not responsible for family and friends possibly labeling you as a "nut".

With the new "intro" page, highlighted posts will remain, well, highlighted.  So you don't have to, as my sister says "scroll down yonder way" to get to it.

Of course, there's a new "old"  look which we are hearing nothing but positive feedback on ("more family friendly" folks are saying) - thanks everyone!   Doesn't the illustration remind you of the old Little House and the Prairie book covers?  But what we are even more excited about is the access to content so we cleaned it up a bit (less clutter!) and now you can easily search and read over a decade worth of posts.  The site is chock a block full of information, tidbits, tips and hidden gems.

Better yet, the site still remains free of ads and sponsors -  a BIG thanks to all our readers who have contributed over the years.  We hope that you continue to benefit from your generous support.   In fact,  we have now a easy accessible donate button (located just to the right side bar) that we will hope will remind you to support this site.

Grab this image!

If LHITC is a favorite of yours, there's also a new nifty blog icon you can grab to use on your site.   Feel free to "save as" and post on your blog.

Um, let's see what else?   Can't rightly think because we are too darn tired to even think but I reckon there's something I forgot.

There's lots of homestead happenings to catch up on but as we catch our breathes and a few hours of shuteye --

Welcome back ya'll!

:: Disclaimer ::

The new blog has been tested on all browsers.  If there is a viewing problem we suggest that you updated your browsers, otherwise, please report (nicely) any problems that you have to Jordanne and she will try her best.    In the meantime, Jordanne will leave this (blog) plate for the time being and start spinning another one that's been waiting in the wings.     But first, she's going to get some much needed R & R and visit the goats.   And me, well, I got lots of catching up to do!

Oh, and I know that "the goat ate this page" (holder)  is getting tiresome to some folks.  But we are doing the best we can with what we have.

From teas to tinctures from herbal butters to brews herbs are one of the most useful things you can grow on your urban homestead.

Going Herbal on the Homestead

I think I listed one time all the herbs we grew here on the urban homestead- can't seem to find it right now.  But it's here somewheres on the blog.

Growing is one thing, using them is an altogether wonderful experience.   Not only will you be providing your family with homegrown pharmacy and enticing culinary flavors you can also expand into home cottage industry.

Here's some of our latest herbal delights: The inedible edible, nasturtium --- vinegar! (See recipe)  Was inspired to try this latest creation thanks to the West Ladies DVD about using herbs.

These bright and cheery flowers are not only gorgeous but they are edible.  For the most part the entire nasturtium plant is edible - leaves and seed pods (capers)

Flowers not only brighten up a salad they give a nice peppery taste.  We throw "nasty's" in pastas on pizzas.

The seeds can even be pickled!

Freshly picked nasturtiums

Into a jar of vinegar

Steep and shake for a few weeks